"On September 2, 2025, a small fishing boat carrying 11 people was targeted by a U.S. Reaper drone off the coast of Venezuela. Hellfire missiles were fired. Two survivors clung to the wreckage. Their identities and motives were unknown. Their behavior showed no hostility. Moments later, the drone operator launched a second strike - the so-called "double tap" - killing the final survivors."
"U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has approved at least 21 additional strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September, killing at least 87 people. He has aggressively defended the very first operation, insisting he would have authorized the second strike as well - despite claiming he did not see it. Hegseth even misinterpreted the visible smoke on the video as the "fog of war," seemingly unaware that the term refers to uncertainty in conflict, not the physical aftermath of a missile strike."
"Hegseth even misinterpreted the visible smoke on the video as the "fog of war," seemingly unaware that the term refers to uncertainty in conflict, not the physical aftermath of a missile strike. The details matter because they reveal something essential: the senior leadership overseeing these operations does not appear interested in the law, accuracy, or the basic meaning of proportionality. Instead, it has embraced escalation and mass murder as official policy."
On September 2, 2025, a U.S. Reaper drone fired Hellfire missiles at a small fishing boat off the coast of Venezuela, striking 11 people; two survivors clung to wreckage before a second "double tap" strike killed the remaining survivors. The victims' identities and motives were unknown and their behavior showed no hostility. The operation marked the first U.S. drone strike in the Caribbean and prompted further strikes. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth approved at least 21 additional strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, reportedly killing at least 87 people, and defended the initial operation while mischaracterizing visible smoke as the "fog of war." Senior leadership appears to disregard legal norms, accuracy, and proportionality, embracing escalation.
Read at Truthout
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]